Ogaden War

Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict and the Cold War

Date

July 13, 1977 – March 15, 1978
(8 months and 2 days)

Location

Ogaden, Ethiopia

Result

Ethiopian victory due to Soviet intervention

Soviet and Cuban military intervention
Somalia breaks all ties with the Soviet Union and the Second World (except China and Romania).

Belligerents

Ethiopia

Soviet Union

Cuba

South Yemen

Somalia

WSLF

Commanders and leaders

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Aberra Haile Mariam

Brigadier-General Ali Matan Hashi

General Muhammad Ali Samatar

Colonel Ali Ismail

Colonel Yusuf Ahmed Sarhan

Abdullahi Hassan

Strength

Beginning of war:
67,000 soldiers in total
On Somali front:
4 infantry brigades (1 mechanised)
2 tank battilions
2 artillery battalions
3 airborne battalions
Later:
75,000 fulltime soldiers in 1980
1,500 Soviet advisors
15,000 Cubans

Beginning of war:
25,000 soldiers
23 motorised and mechanised battalions
9 tank battalions
9 artillery battalions
4 airborne battalions
End of war:
SNA 63,200
WSLF 15,000

Casualties and losses

Ethiopia:
16,133 killed
10,563 wounded
3,867 captured or missing (including 1,362 deserters)
Cuba:
400 killed
South Yemen:
100 killed
USSR:
33 dead and missing
Civilians:
1,000 killed
500,000 displaced

Equipment losses:
23 Aircraft
139 tanks
108 APCs
1,399 vehicles

5,453 killed
2,409 wounded
275 captured or missing
Equipment losses:
28 Aircraft (1/2 of Air force)
72 tanks
30 APCs
90 vehicles

Ethiopian victory due to Soviet intervention

The Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War, was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the disputed Ethiopian region Ogaden starting with the Somali Democratic Republic's invasion of Ethiopia. The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia to instead start supporting Ethiopia, whereas the United States conversely ceased its support of Ethiopia and started supporting Somalia. The war ended when the Americans brokered a ceasefire. Ethiopia was saved from a major defeat and a permanent loss of territory due to a massive airlift of military supplies ($7 Billion), the arrival of 16,000 Cuban troops, 1,500 Soviet advisors and 2 brigades from the Yemen army were also airlifted to reinforce the Addis Ababa. Despite this, large parts of the Ogaden remained in Somali hands until 1980.

Following World War II, Britain retained control of both British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland as protectorates. In 1950, as a result of the Paris Peace Treaties, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland, but only under close supervision and on the condition—first proposed by the Somali Youth League (SYL) and other nascent Somali political organizations, such as Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali (HDMS) and the Somali National League (SNL)—that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. British Somaliland remained a protectorate of Britain until 1960.

In 1948, under pressure from their World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis, the British returned the Haud (an important Somali grazing area that was presumably 'protected' by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the Ogaden to Ethiopia, based on a treaty they signed in 1897 in which the British, French and Italians agreed upon the territorial boundaries of Ethiopia with the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik in exchange for his help against raids by hostile clans. Britain included the provison that the Somali residents would retain their autonomy, but Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over the area. This prompted an unsuccessful bid by Britain in 1956 to buy back the Somali lands it had turned over. Britain also granted administration of the almost exclusively Somali-inhabitedNorthern Frontier District (NFD) to Kenyan nationalists despite an informal plebiscite demonstrating the overwhelming desire of the region's population to join the newly formed Somali Republic.

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Wikipedia